Common Element & Maintenance Disputes
Community Situation Parking / Common Element Maintenance DisputeAn Exclusive-Use Parking Spot Left Unshovelled for Days
A compacted, icy parking space raised a narrower question than it first appears: whose job is snow removal, on paper, in this building?
- Issue
- Parking space left uncleared for days until ice formed
- Management response
- Contractor could not clear individual spots
- Notice sent
- Owners told they are responsible for clearing their own spaces
- Declaration says
- Snow removal listed as a common expense
An owner's exclusive-use parking space went uncleared for several days. The snow compacted into ice and the space became unusable. The owner contacted management multiple times with photos. Management said the contractor could not clear spaces with cars parked nearby and only removed snow by vehicle, not by shovelling individual spots.
A notice then went to all residents saying owners must clear their own parking spaces. But the owner checked the declaration and found snow removal listed as a common expense. There was no clear provision assigning that job to individual owners. The owner asked for a fee credit for the days the space was unusable and requested direct board contact, but had not received a response.
Documents an owner in this situation should gather
- The declaration's specific language on snow removal and common expenses
- The notice sent to residents reassigning snow-clearing responsibility
- Dated photos of the uncleared space
- All written correspondence with property management, including the fee-credit request
Questions to ask management or the board
- 1Does the declaration classify snow removal as a common expense, and if so, has that responsibility been properly reassigned to owners through a valid rule or bylaw amendment, or only announced informally?
- 2Is a fee credit or adjustment available for the days the space was unusable?
- 3Who is the correct board contact for this specific issue, given management hasn't responded?
- 4Has this exact issue come up with other owners' exclusive-use spaces this season?
Facing something like this?
Read the plain-language guidance for this exact situation, or run your own documents through the Free Notice Decoder.
Read the full guides
Curated and maintained by Alexander Baraz, Condo Owner Advocate.
This is a Community Situation: a real situation shared publicly by a condo owner, most often in an Ontario Facebook community group. It is an illustrative community case. It is not a Condo Owner Advocate client, not COA casework, not a testimonial, and not legal advice.